Vacationing in Ireland - The Good, the Bad, and the Constant Rain

     Mike says it was my idea to go to Ireland.  I say he didn't need much convincing.  It was great fun in the planning stages and less so in the execution.  So come along with us on our cold, rainy holiday.

We're off.

     We left Philly in the afternoon and arrived in Dublin the next day at the crack of dawn.  We decided to stay in center city in an apartment instead of a hotel.  Our landlord accepted Paypal and credit cards, but he made it known that he preferred cash.  This, combined with the view from our living room window, made me question what we had gotten into.

An ugly view, located right next to an elevated commuter rail line, a few blocks from a night club that blasted dance music till 3:00 a.m. - win, win, win! 

        
     Mike said it would be fine since our landlord had a decent reputation on VRBO since 2012.  The apartment was directly across the street from the fire station and emergency squad and the police department.
     "Who would try monkey business a few feet from the police station?" he asked.
     Mike was right.  The landlord was a nice guy.  We got a discount for paying cash, and our host waived the security deposit.  The apartment was clean and bug free.  The view was par for the course in the city and didn't indicate that the situation was unsafe.  As far as the noise goes - we wanted to stay in center city, a few blocks from Trinity College during the week of partying before classes begin.  We had to own that one.
     We pushed hard the first day figuring we would go to bed early and wake up adjusted to the time difference.  We walked for hours inspecting the neighborhood.

Mike at Ha'penny Bridge
This is a pedestrian bridge over the River Liffey built in 1816.

I suppose every town has duck boats.  They make you wear Viking hats with horns on this tour.

Streets are mobbed until 10:00 or 11:00 at night.

This is a beautiful mall at St. Stephen's Green.  There is a supermarket in the basement.  

View of a Church Just Off Grafton Street 
Grafton Street is a pedestrian street with shops, restaurants, and live entertainment.  The weather looks pleasant, doesn't it?  It wasn't long after this that the temperatures dropped and the skies opened up for the next six days.  They say the Irish left Ireland because of the potato famine and oppressive English rule.  I say the crappy weather drove them out. 

   

     We decided to have fish and chips for dinner on our first night.

I know you can identify the fish and the fries.  The green stuff is mushy peas.  They were tasty.

Sláinte!

   

     Was it the pint of Harp?  Was it the fried food or the exhaustion?  The next two days were spent alternately sleeping and visiting the bathroom.  The craic (Irish for fun or good times) improved, but the weather didn't.
     Mike didn't like the food, and I didn't like the weather.  The one thing we couldn't complain about was the people.  From the cabbie who didn't want to accept any money for driving us to a doctor's office to the little, old lady who asked if she could point us in the right direction because we had a lost look, they were just so nice.
   
         
       
   
     

Making a Walking Stick

     There are two ways to make a walking stick.  This first method (aka the easy way) is to grab a bow saw, go to the woods and find a fairly straight sapling, cut it down, trim it to the required length also removing any branches, and walk out of the woods employing the newly created stick as a aide for balance, a weapon against aggressive Hainesport turkeys, or a tool for clearing away spider webs and low hanging branches.  Or you can do it the hard way.  That's usually my way.
     The hard way begins in the same manner as the easy way.  One goes to the woods and finds an appropriate sapling and cuts it down.  The rest of the process occurs at home.

I brought home two saplings.  One was chosen, and one became firewood.  The stick is longer than it needs to be.  It will be cut to the correct length after the wood thoroughly dries.

I sawed off all the branches as close to the trunk as possible.  These knotty places will look nice on the finished product.

I began scraping away the bark.  There are two layers of bark.

When the wood is freshly cut, the layers peel up easily.

Once started, the bark was easy to peel off.

I left bark around each end.  This prevents the wood from splitting as it dries.  I cut the stick in fall.  I leaned it against the wall in the shed and forgot about it until the following summer.  

I cut the stick to a length that I liked - 55 and 1/4 inches.  I drilled a hole with a 1/4 inch inch drill bit through the center of the stick, 11 and 3/4 inches down from the top.  I sanded with 120 and 220 grit sandpaper.  I applied a coat of wood stain and three coats of polyurethane.  Between coats of polyurethane, I sanded with 400 grit sandpaper.  Finally, I  put a 7/8 - 1 inch chair tip on the bottom end. 

Mike has a walking stick with a leather thong looped through it.  I decided to weave a black cord with a silver heart charm.  Then I personalized my walking stick with some alphabet beads.  The hard way turned out pretty, don't you think?

   

Clueless

     Mike likes his feet to be smooth.  I've been in the habit of putting foot files into his Christmas stocking.  He recently announced that these old stand-bys are not doing the job.  What he really needs (he says) is a device we saw advertised on television - a battery operated, rolling drum file called Amopé.

Old School

The Latest in Callus Grinding

     We were in the check out line at Bed, Bath, & Beyond when Mike bolted toward the back of the store.
     "Where are you headed," I called in his direction.
     "I'm going to get that pedi-file," he yelled back.
     At that point, so was everyone else in the store.

It Won't Eat or Drink

     You might as well stock up.  After all, it won't eat or drink.  That was Mom's advice whenever things like toilet paper, laundry detergent. or bars of soap went on sale.  Storing things that would never spoil would cost nothing and would save money in the long run.
     The other day, I was able to share Mom's wisdom with the guys at Lippincott's Supply.  The week previous, I dug the moss from between the patio blocks, and now I had to replace a lot of sand.  I wasn't sure how much polymeric patio sand to buy, so I decided, "Just give me both bags.  I'll save the excess for the future.  It won't eat or drink."
     That was a new one on those fellows.  After sharing a good laugh, they told me how to use the product.  Mike and I left with about three times as much sand as we needed.
     Here's how to refill the spaces between patio blocks after you dig out weeds, moss, and most of the original sand.

This type of block is best "grouted" with polymeric sand.  The product does not work well on interlocking pavers.  Polymeric sand is sand plus additives.  When water is added, the polymers cause the sand to harden.  The hardened sand resists weed growth better than plain sand.  Ants can't build mounds through it.  Also, it won't wash out in heavy rains.  You can see that most of the original sand came out with the moss that had been growing between the blocks for the past couple of years.  Note to self: Don't let things get so out of hand in the future.  I have been fighting moss in the summer.  I recently learned that moss is an evergreen that will thrive whenever there is sufficient moisture.  Summer is the least favorable season for moss since the weather can be hot and dry.  I plan to fight the regrowth of patio moss by applying a bleach solution year round.  

Mike used a trowel to pour the polymeric sand into the deepest joints.

I went behind Mike with a broom, sweeping the product into the cracks.  After the joints were full, we swept up the excess sand.  We were left with a fine white powder which you can see at the back of the patio in this picture.  

After sweeping the product into the joints and removing any excess, use a blower on the lowest setting to blow away the fine dust on the paver surface. 

Finally, mist the surface three times.  The first misting is done from a height of four feet.  Just dampen the whole surface.  Wait 3 minutes and mist again from a height of two feet.  Use the mist to push any particles toward the joints.  Don't use too much water.  Too much is when water puddles in the joints.  You want the water to be absorbed into the joint to the point just before it puddles.  Wait about 5 minutes and mist for the third time - again, no puddling in the joints.  Too much water causes the binding agents to wash away.  If that happens, these agents usually float on the paver surface and turn the surface cloudy white.   

All the sand in this step was gone.  Now it's back.

The sand is back.  All joints are filled uniformly.  The sand comes in five colors, and we used gray.  Though it's not completely dry, the driest areas have developed a hard shell.  The pavers don't have a cloudy white haze, so we must have done something right.     

     There are some other things to consider when using polymeric sand.  Be sure the patio is dry when you start.  If there has been rain recently, let the patio dry for 2-3 days.  Check the weather forecast to be sure there won't be any rain for a couple of days after you finish your project.  As they say (though Mom never used this one), timing is everything.    

         

Trash Picking

     The trash picking was pretty good a couple of weeks ago.  I found two projects.

I found this on the curb.  It was a yellowy/blonde color with gold drawer pulls.  The wooden piece across the back had popped up and the middle drawer wouldn't close.  Also, the two front legs were loose.

I scraped and sanded.  I used a drill to enlarge the nail holes for the piece that looks like a back splash.  I applied glue and tapped the "back splash" into place.  The wood was a bit warped and remained lifted on one end, so I turned the dresser over, using its weight to press the "back splash" into place.  While the dresser was upended, I glued the wobbly front legs, and tapped in a small nail to hold things tight.

With all the loose parts strong and solid, I flipped the dresser right-side-up and primed and painted.  The inside had sloppy splotches of paint from previous paint jobs.  I used painter's tape to wrap the paint job inside and keep a neatly painted edge.  I used left over white and black paint to mix shades of gray.

These are the gold drawer pulls.  I sanded as much paint off as I could.  I would have soaked the pulls in paint stripper if  I intended to keep the original brass finish, but I decided to repaint these. 

I hung the pulls from fishing line, allowing the handles to hang straight down.  Then I primed and painted from underneath.  That way they could dry, and the handle wouldn't touch any other part of the pull, ruining my paint job.  You guessed it.  I had just enough paint in the bottom of two old cans of spray paint to do this job.

The middle drawer wouldn't close because the bottom of the drawer extended below the drawer front.  This caused the drawer to sit high, so that it wasn't centered in the opening.  I wish I had a hand plane.  Instead I used a file and #80 grit sand paper to remove the excess wood.

With the excess wood filed and sanded away the drawer sat lower, and it closed.

The finished product - white hardware, very pale gray drawers, and a darker gray frame.  Pretty.  

   

     The second trash pick was an old wooden ladder.  I would liked to have painted this find turquoise, but I didn't have any turquoise paint.  Nor did I have blue or yellow paint for mixing.  I try never to spend money sprucing up my trash pickin's, so I painted my ladder with some white paint left over from house painting.  This will work as a plant stand, but turquoise would have been oh-so-much better.

It's painted white, then distressed.  I painted the hardware with some left over bronze paint.

   

     So, there you have it - free stuff prettied up for nothing with left over stuff.  Now that's recycling.

The Mount, Mount Holly, New Jersey

     Mike informed me the other day that "The Mount" was neither mountain nor hill.
     "It's just a bump," he said.  "The town should be called Bump Holly."  Bump Holly came out sounding like Bum-polly.
     This area's colonial settlers were so tickled by the sight of topographical prominences that they called any high point a mountain.  We have Mount Laurel just down the road, and Arney's Mount lies to the east.  All mounts considered, I think Mount Holly's peak has the best story.
     The Mount was originally called Cripps' Mountain after John Cripps.  Mr. Cripps came to America in 1677 aboard the ship Kent.  Cripps climbed The Mount and was so taken with the holly trees and the view that he bought the property.  He named the area Mount Holly and built the town's first home.  The National Geodectic Survey placed two markers on The Mount.  The source I read stated that the markers were placed around 1840.  These markers are used for mapping and charting.  I looked for the markers, and I found two, but they appear to be dated 1976 and 1988.  Easter sunrise services used to be held on The Mount.  The altar and benches are still there, but the words "Holy, Holy, Holy" carved into the altar have been painted over.  I seem to remember those words being emphasized with white paint when I was in high school. The Mount has always been a playground for children.  In the 1920's the army built an observation tower on the top, but it had to be torn down because the children wouldn't stop climbing it.
     There are no human graves on the rise, but there might be two resting places which hold supernatural beings.  According to one tale, a witch was thrown into a well on The Mount.  She screamed and beat the walls of the well until she died.  Some people claim to hear her screams still.  There is another legend that the Jersey Devil is buried under the Easter Sunday altar.
     At 185 feet above sea level at its summit, The Mount is not the top of the world, but it is a world away from the town below.  So take a hike to the top of Mount Holly, but if you run into the old witch or Mrs. Leeds' evil spawn, don't mention that I sent you.

Deep Shade.

The Altar and Benches.

You have to get close to see the words.

One Geodetic Marker.

The Second Geodetic Marker.

       

The Mercer Museum, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Part 3

     We ended our day in Doylestown with a tour of Henry Mercer's castle/home.  His house, like his museum and his pottery works, is constructed of rebar reinforced, poured concrete.  When the house was finished, Mercer built a bonfire on the roof to prove to that the building was fireproof. The house is a crazy collection of levels with thirty two narrow staircases.  There are 44 rooms and ten bathrooms.  Mercer's tiles are embedded in the walls. ceilings, and floors.  Some of the furniture is built-in, made of concrete, of course.  We weren't allowed to photograph the interior, but there is a link at the end of this post to another blog.  That lucky blogger was able to take pictures inside.

A beautiful, tree lined lane leads to the house.

Henry Mercer was a life long bachelor, so why did he need such a big house?  Our guide told us that Mr. Mercer entertained a lot.  They didn't just drop by for cocktails.  They stayed for days.

Another View.

This is the carriage house.

Bird houses are built into the carriage house roof.

The house has several terraces.  We were allowed to take pictures from this terrace.

This is the spring house as viewed from the terrace.  The estate was named Fonthill because of the spring on the property.

The ceiling on the terrace porch enclosure is the only bit of tile work that I could photograph.  Imagine this to the nth degree inside the house.

     The Moravian Tile and Pottery Works sits behind the house.  Artisans still work there making tile from Mercer's molds.

The Factory.

A Huge Assortment of Tiles.
If a whole back splash of this stuff is not your style, you can always purchase a tile to use as a trivet.

     Here's a link to Big Old Houses blog.  There are pictures of the interior of the house.

http://bigoldhouses.blogspot.com/2014/02/something-completely-different.html